Team Die Hard Fans vs Player Only (Die Hard Fans)

[ederson]

so you are saying, if lebron went to bucks, then most people who follows lebron would become a bucks fan? all facebook pic of lebron with heat main pics etc; will be change to lebron as bucks

i think that's bandwagoning

and instead of saying im a die hard heat fans because of lebron, go heat beat those crap teams etc;
now it will be go bucks, im a die hard bucks fan

my point is the completely opposite.

you can`t/don`t change your team

[D.o.s.]

What if your team moves? What if your team ceases to exist? What do you do if you find yourself rooting for the next Seattle SuperSonics or Charlotte Hornets? Just quit watching the games? That seems silly.

[RAcker]

Laundry!

However, I will admit to being devastated when Danny got traded in '88-'89.  I quietly pulled for him in Sacramento, Portland and Phoenix but when head to head, I wanted the C's to beat him without question.

There is a younger generation of fans that follow players instead of teams.  I'm not knocking them, I just don't identify with that.

As many of you did, if I hung in from '86 to '08...I can do it again.

[CelticG1]

Losing Pierce and Garnett was the first time ive ever truly card about where they were gpimg and had a rooting interest in them. I think its pretty rare andthis was a unique experience with them at the tail end of their careers.

I could see if Brady went to a different team in a couple years the same thing happening where although i would still be rooting for the Pats clearly that I would still be rooting for Brady big time

[slamtheking]

How many Celtics fans would leave or lose most of their interest if Rondo were traded?

The night that happened would only be paralleled by the hissy fits thrown on here the night Garnett was acquired.

As someone who rolls his eyes regularly at the people who've bought into the NBA's marketing destruction of this great game with this mindless "individuals first" thing, it'd be a hilarious thing to watch.

One of the many reasons why I detest David Stern.

To answer the quoted question, I am a fan of the uniform. I don't care who wears it, as long as they uphold the tradition of the franchise and the greatness of this game. I don't enjoy watching players who don't buy in to defense, moving the basketball, rebounding, etc.

Which puts me in the apparent minority here.

totally agree with you which is a rarity.  I root for the Celtics and whoever's in the uniform for better or worse.  I will wish former C's the best if they leave in most cases (Mark Blount and Brian Shaw being my biggest exceptions) but I only really care about the Celtics.

The change in focus from the teams to the individuals is truly disappointing.  Based on what I've observed on the blog, it seems to be a generational thing.  Those who are old enough to have been fans pre-Jordan titles (which is when the individual-worship seemed to gain traction) seem to be more team-based fans whereas those who started following the NBA when Jordan starting winning titles (and afterwards) seem to be more focussed on individuals.

side effect of this transition in focus is the blatant rise in the superstar rules (aka the Jordan Rules now taken to the extreme with Lebron).